No Reason
Minnesota is an employment "at will" state. An employee can quit for any reason; an employer can fire any employee for any reason as long as that reason is not illegal, such as discrimination based on race, creed, color, sex, national origin, ancestry, religion, age, disability, sexual orientation or marital status.
No Reason
An employer must give a truthful reason why an employee was terminated, if requested in writing by the employee within 15 working-days of termination. The employer has 10 working-days from receipt of the request to give a truthful reason in writing for the termination.
If you only feel sad for seemingly no reason during a specific part of the year, it could be a type of depression called seasonal affective disorder (SAD) or depression with seasonal features. SAD is more common during the fall and winter when days are shorter.
Many employees often have questions about their legal rights. They might wonder when, and for what reasons, they can be terminated from their current job. If they are terminated, they might wonder whether or not it was legal to do so. Many states follow at-will employment laws, which means in most cases, an employer can terminate an employee without reason.
An at-will employment state essentially means that an employer can fire an employee at any time, without reason. It is important to note that while employers do not usually have to have a reason for firing an employee, there are certain reasons that are protected by law. Firing an employee for any of these reasons below can lead to legal and financial liabilities.
Discrimination is another reason that negates an at-will employment agreement. Employees are protected by federal programs against discrimination including the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Regardless of the type of employment or contract agreement, employees cannot be fired base on the following:
"I have fired people from my company for cause, but I've also fired people who I think just don't get what we're about," said the CEO of a 60-person consulting firm in Ohio. "Frankly, I don't lose a minute of sleep when I fire someone who I think isn't working out, for whatever reason. Of course, I drive my HR person nuts when I do that."
Most people expect there to be some kind of justification for putting an individual out of his or her job, Carroll observed, whether it has to do with the person's performance, the company's financial situation or another workplace issue entirely. If you can't articulate and document a reason, "it's easy for a judge and jury to fill in the blanks, whether they're correct or not," and rule against you.
It is unfortunate; however, employees being fired without any cause happens often and can happen to almost anyone. Most people can be terminated without cause with no reason given though it does ultimately depend on your employment status.
When you are hired by an employer many times, you are required to sign a document that states you understand the nature of your employment and acknowledge that you are an at-will employee. As a result, courts will usually deny claims brought by employees for unlawful termination unless there are extenuating circumstances. On the flip side, an at-will employee also has the right and the ability to quit their job with no reason and without any warning. While two weeks' notice is considered the polite thing to do an employee is under no obligation to give an employer notice.
While at-will employment means that you can be terminated at any time for any reason, cause employment is the exact opposite. With cause employment, an employer is unable to fire you without reason or cause. There must be a legitimate reason to terminate an employee under cause employment.
Discrimination isn't the only exception to at-will employment rules, and wrongful firings can happen for other reasons as well. No employer can ask you to engage in illegal activity, and it is against the law for them to fire you for refusing to do so. There is also certain protected activity that you may not be terminated for. Taking medical leave under the Family Medical Leave act is another example of a reason that an employer cannot fire you.
In fact, under the Family Medical Leave Act, an employer is required to allow you to come back after your leave is done. You also cannot be terminated after submitting a Worker's Compensation Claim if you have been hurt on the job. You can't be fired for filing a whistleblower claim as this would be considered retribution. Your company also cannot retaliate against you for opposing or complaining about wage violations, for reporting the company for violating safety standards or for other reasons that would violate public policy.
Being fired without any reason or notice and without any work history of disciplinary action being taken or documented performance issues it may raise the question in your mind as to whether you have been lawfully terminated. While an employer in an at-will state is under no obligation to inform you of the reason of your termination, it is not unreasonable to think it may be a wrongful termination.
An employment attorney will be able to tell you if there is any recourse you may be able to take and if they think that your termination was, in fact, illegal. An attorney feels that your rights have been violated due to unlawful conduct or breach of contract they will explain what your options are and where you can turn to in order to remedy the situation. If you were terminated for an unlawful reason, you may be entitled to back pay from your employer starting on the date of your termination.
States can also protect employees for a variety of other reasons. For instance, some states do not allow a company for reasons such as serving as a firefighter or even an election officer. Courts in some states have even gone as far as saying that an employer may not terminated you because you exercised a legal right of which you were entitled. Filing a compensation claim under the Occupational Safety and Health Act or reporting a safety violation to OSHA is also not an offense under which an employee may be fired.
While states write the laws, it is the courts that interpret them. They will have the final say as to whether or not a company has violated your rights by firing you for no reason and without cause. Some states protect whistleblowers who complain that their employer broke any law, regulation, or ordinance at all. Additionally, courts may make exceptions if a company has violated any provisions within their state constitution.
If you are an at-will employee but the reason you were fired is in violation of the public interest of the state, then a court could deem the termination illegal. For instance, if you revealed that a company was not paying employees properly or refusing to allow employees to use the vacation pay that they have accrued it may be deemed in the public interest. If you have revealed that the company has violated another employee's rights, even if yours were not, it could be deemed in the public interest as well. There are many reasons that this may be the case and a judge will make the final determination on the cause of your firing.
Former U.S. President and California Gov. Ronald Reagan purportedly said of the idea of open carry guns, "There is absolutely no reason why out on the street today a civilian should be carrying a loaded weapon." Readers asked if this was a genuine quote. We were able to locate reporting in newspaper archives and even an audio recording, both of which confirmed that Reagan did indeed say these words.
Also noteworthy at the time we received the reader inquiry was that the man who shot Reagan during his presidency, John Hinckley Jr., was just days away from a court approving his freedom. Hinckley shot Reagan in 1981, though the president survived. According to CBS News, Hinckley was found "not guilty by reason of insanity" in 1982, but remained hospitalized for many years.
My landlord evicted me from my apartment after 6 months of my stay for no apparent reason. I paid all the bills, didn't cause any damages, etc. Is it legal for landlords to evict a tenant without any reason?
Although you say that your landlord "evicted you" for no apparent reason, chances are you're talking about receiving a termination notice, telling you to move within a certain number of days or face an eviction lawsuit. When tenants don't move and landlords proceed to court and win, the tenant typically has a few days to move voluntarily. If he doesn't, a local law enforcement person will show up and remove the tenant and his belongings. Only the court can order an eviction, and only a designated officer can carry it out.
Month-to-month tenants have a rental agreement that self-renews every month unless one side decides to terminate it. In most states and cities, landlords can evict month-to-month tenants for no reason, as long as their motivation is not to discriminate illegally or to retaliate against a tenant who exercised a protected tenant right.
In cities that have rent control (in California, New York, and Maryland), and in Washington, DC and the states of New Hampshire and New Jersey, landlords may not terminate month-to-month tenants unless they have a reason, or "just cause," that's enumerated in the rent control ordinance or state law. Check your ordinance or law for the list of reasons that will justify a termination.
Landlords who want to terminate a lease mid-term must do so for one of these reasons, and must state the reason in the termination notice. If the tenant decides to stay and fight the eviction, the landlord must prove the reason in court.
Throughout my twenties, I would often stress about the little things at work that, in hindsight, were truly little things that no one cared about. To help you start to manage stress at work and let go of the need to be perfect, consider some of the items you might be worrying about without good reason. Below are some items many employees stress over that, at the end of the day, aren't worth the work stress. 041b061a72